A man had the following inscribed on his tombstone:
“Pause, dear friend, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now you soon will be;
Prepare thyself and follow me.”
Some thoughtful individual scribbled the following below the epitaph:
“To follow you I’m not content
Until I know which way you went.”
To follow … depends!
I saw a bumper sticker that read, “Don’t Follow Me, I’m Lost Too!” To be on the safe side we need to set our eyes on Jesus. We need to follow Him since we know where He is! We know where He has gone to prepare a place! We know where He leads!
While walking on the face of this earth, Jesus lived His life as an example to be followed. There is a beautiful consistency between His teaching and His life. As Christians, we see Jesus as safe and worthy of being followed. But as we focus on His life and then our own, one thing to be mindful of is this: “Is my life worth following?”
Paul went to great pains to ensure his life was a worthy example to follow. Regarding his example he wrote. . .
“(7) For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, (8) nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. (9) It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.” (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 ESV)
The New King James Version reads, “an example of how you should follow us.”
And in writing to the church at Corinth, Paul urged. . .
“(1) Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV)
We should strive to live such godly lives that we could make the same statement, yet still directing the attention and glory ultimately to Christ.
May we be careful not to be so short-sighted as to only try to live as good as those around us. We need to lift our eyes, behold the glory of Christ, and strive to be like Him. Let us keep “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. . .” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV) and follow where He leads. That will make it safe for others to follow us.
Have a great day KNOWING “FOLLOW THE LEADER” IS NOT JUST A GAME!
Carl
